Murder accused will not give evidence at trial

A man accused of murdering a grandmother who was walking her dog last summer has chosen not to give evidence at his trial.

Anita Rose, 57, was found seriously injured on a footpath in Brantham, Suffolk, on 24 July and died four days later.

Roy Barclay, 56, of no fixed address, denies killing the grandmother who was walking along fields next to the railway line, sewage works and Stour estuary.

At Ipswich Crown Court, his barrister Simon Spence KC told jurors he would not be calling his client to be questioned or cross-examined.

The judge told the court that following five weeks of prosecution evidence, Mr Barclay would not be appearing as a witness for the defence.

Judge Martyn Levett said there would be closing addresses from prosecuting and defence counsels before he sums up the case.

The trial previously heard Mr Barclay had been jailed for attacking an 82-year-old man in Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex, in 2015, and leaving a dog lead wrapped around his victim's foot.

A dog lead was found wrapped around Ms Rose's leg.

The man in Walton needed 10 titanium plates in his face, having had his jaw detached from the rest of his skull.

Judge Martyn Levett told jurors they must not jump to the conclusion that Mr Barclay's silence at his trial proved the case against him.

"It does not," he said.

"The burden of proof remains on the prosecution to prove its case against Roy Barclay," he said.

"The prosecution submits that this proof comes from a variety of facts and a constellation of strands of circumstantial evidence which, when taken together, leaves you in no doubt that the defendant is guilty of murder."

In his closing address, the prosecuting counsel Chris Paxton KC told the court: "Roy Barclay took Anita Rose's life in an explosion of violence. Blow after blow. Kick after kick.

"Roy Barclay's determination to save his own skin is exhibited in the brutality of Anita Rose's injuries."

The trial has previously heard that the defendant had been living "off-grid" in a series of makeshift camps and had been "unlawfully at large" for two years.

In his closing address on Wednesday, Mr Paxton KC added: "He had the camp in Brantham, the one the police discovered on 11 February this year.

"They found a treasure trove of clues.

"It was the sewage works that Roy Barclay searched on Google on 20 July, four days before he attacked Anita Rose.

"Roy Barclay doesn't work for Anglian Water. It isn't a tourist destination. But it has a sink and a toilet. It's useful to Roy Barclay."

The trial continues.

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